Couple Arrested in Bonham for Animal Cruelty

Posted: Thu 5:29 PM, Jun 01, 2006&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Thu 10:43 PM, Jun 01, 2006

06-01-06 - Neighbors told officers the smell from a Bonham home had become almost unbearable, but Thursday 11 pit bull mixes living at that home were loaded up and taken to the SPCA and their owners were taken to jail.

It was not a dog that caught the attention of a Bonham officer Thursday morning, but a car in a backyard. The car was a violation of city ordinance, but once he took a closer look, he found several dogs in distress. Eleven dogs in all, living at the house that had been without running water for almost a month. The SPCA was called in to investigate and removed the dogs they say were malnourished and some without the proper shots.

After the SPCA looked things over, 19-year-old Joseph Williamson and 27-year-old Jennifer Flowers were both arrested and taken to jail. The couple had told animal control they wanted to open up a kennel with the dogs, something that also would have been illegal. In the city of Bonham there is no limit on the amount of pets you can have, however police say in this case the conditions that the animals were living in is what led to the arrests. The two people arrested will each be charged with 11 counts of animal cruelty, one count for each of the eleven dogs.

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